Hi all,
I was planning on coming next year in June or July to Thailand (probably 2 months for the whole vacation, about a month in the south) and am probably going to spend most of my time on the Andaman side I think (I hear Tao and Phangan have relatively poor diving). I did a good bit of research on the monsoon in general and have read all of the blogs regarding the weather, but I still have a series of questions, so it would be best to number them I suppose:
1. Ideally I'd like to dive in the Similans, but I understand that it is low season and that the islands are not protected from the monsoon weather. I think I saw that there were a few liveaboards leaving for the Similans though, but I am not sure how pleasant of an experience this would be. I read on one website that visibility was even higher in June than in peak season. Is this true?
2. I understand that the weather is fairly random and that it is possible to have a stretch of rain or sunshine, etc. However, I have a bit of trouble picking out what sides of the island/what beaches (say on Phuket or Phi Phi) are safe to swim in even in relatively high winds. If the wind is blowing to the southwest, I'd think that the western coast should be calm, but pictures I see from a Karon webcam show otherwise.
3. Is Phi Phi protected from the winds more so than Phuket or Krabi? I'd like to ideally do some diving around Phi Phi as well as Phuket, but I have no idea what the condition of the seas could be around ends of the islands.
I know this is a bit premature to plan for a vacation, but I always plan early. Sorry for the length of the questions and thanks for reading.
I was planning on coming next year in June or July to Thailand (probably 2 months for the whole vacation, about a month in the south) and am probably going to spend most of my time on the Andaman side I think (I hear Tao and Phangan have relatively poor diving). I did a good bit of research on the monsoon in general and have read all of the blogs regarding the weather, but I still have a series of questions, so it would be best to number them I suppose:
1. Ideally I'd like to dive in the Similans, but I understand that it is low season and that the islands are not protected from the monsoon weather. I think I saw that there were a few liveaboards leaving for the Similans though, but I am not sure how pleasant of an experience this would be. I read on one website that visibility was even higher in June than in peak season. Is this true?
2. I understand that the weather is fairly random and that it is possible to have a stretch of rain or sunshine, etc. However, I have a bit of trouble picking out what sides of the island/what beaches (say on Phuket or Phi Phi) are safe to swim in even in relatively high winds. If the wind is blowing to the southwest, I'd think that the western coast should be calm, but pictures I see from a Karon webcam show otherwise.
3. Is Phi Phi protected from the winds more so than Phuket or Krabi? I'd like to ideally do some diving around Phi Phi as well as Phuket, but I have no idea what the condition of the seas could be around ends of the islands.
I know this is a bit premature to plan for a vacation, but I always plan early. Sorry for the length of the questions and thanks for reading.